Editor’s note: This is the second in a five-part series profiling Lake County’s high school varsity football teams as they prepare for the 2022 season.
LAKEPORT — The Clear Lake High School varsity football team certainly made an impression last season when it came within a few minutes of upsetting St. Vincent of Petaluma in the North Coast Section Division 7 semifinals.
That 2021 Cardinals club was loaded with seniors at the skill positions, including quarterback Jack Daskam, running back Ethan Maize and wide receivers Tyler Haskell and Zame Robinson, all of them All-North Central League I selections as was their teammate Ty Harmon, a defensive force for the Cardinals at nose guard.
Losing that much talent to graduation in one fell swoop can sometimes sting, but it won’t stop the 2022 Clear Lake varsity from picking up where it left off a year ago, which is mostly in the win column (4-2 in league and 7-4 overall, including a 1-1 postseason record).
“I am excited about this group,” said Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory as he embarks on his seventh season with the Cardinals. “We have a great opportunity. They are such hard workers.”
Cory’s optimism isn’t based on wishful thinking but on a roster that returns its offensive line as well as a handful of talented and tested skill players who proved valuable a year ago and have improved tremendously in the offseason. There’s also a key addition in freshman Jesse Hayes — yep, you read that right — freshman.
“I’ve never had a freshman play varsity (at the start of the season) in my 30 years as a coach, not here (in Lakeport) and not in Eureka.”
Jesse, the younger brother of junior teammate Cody Hayes, will see time at a variety of positions, namely running back and receiver on offense and linebacker and safety on defense.
The freshman wowed onlookers during Clear Lake’s two summer camps this season, including one at Sutter.
“He looked like a very good player against some real good teams,” Cory said.
And not “freshman good,” but simply good, according to Cory, who said Hayes belongs at the varsity level now.
“Other coaches couldn’t believe he was just a freshman,” Cory added. “It’s a no-brainer. He’s really smart. He’s as good a player as the kids I have back.”
Hayes is also really fast although he’s not the quickest player on Clear Lake’s roster, according to Cory. There’s also junior quarterback Jake Soderquist, who saw considerable action for the Cardinals at a variety of positions last season before going down with a shoulder injury in the 25-20 playoff loss to St. Vincent; returning running back Hank
Ollenberger, a junior; Aiden Williamson, a senior; and Jesse’s older brother, Cody.
Team speed is abundant throughout Clear Lake’s offense and defense. Put another way, it’s everywhere.
“We’re going to take advantage of matchups and get our playmakers the ball,” Cory said. “We’ll spread you out, just like last year. Once we got our run game going last season we created some opportunities.”
The 2022 Cardinals should be an amped up version of the 2021 club.
“We can put pressure on people,” Cory said. “Defensively we’ll be more aggressive than we were last year. In football you’re either creating the chaos or receiving the chaos. We’d rather create it.”
On offense and defense, Clear Lake will be in perpetual attack mode, according to Cory.
“We’re faster than we were a year ago,” he said.
While speed is nice, so is size and experience up front.
The Cardinals have both, led by All-League honorable mention Axel Alvarez, Diego Brewster-Ramirez, Michael Frease, Pedro Barbosa-Post and Tony Gersalia, who is also working out at fullback. All are seniors. There is also tight end Cody Hayes.
“You can’t win without a good line, you just can’t,” Cory said.
While Clear Lake’s linemen took their fair share of lumps early last season after no football was played in the Coastal Mountain Conference in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, their improvement since last season has been considerable, to the point where they are hoping to thump some of the teams that thumped them a year ago.
Backfield
While replacing a quarterback such as Daskam, one who threw for a school-record 2,243 yards last season, is no small assignment, Soderquist, one of three quarterbacks on Clear Lake’s roster a year ago, is more than capable of handling that job, according to Cory.
A capable passer and a lightning-quick runner, Soderquist should be able to keep opposing pass rushes honest.
“He does some things out there that are impressive,” Cory said.
Ollenberger is the go-to running back in Clear Lake’s offense much like Maize was a year ago.
“He’s lifted weights in the offseason, gained 20 pounds, has good speed and is tough,” Cory said. “Last year he split time with Ethan. He surprised me with how good he runs with the ball.”
The team’s wide receivers include Jesse Hayes, Williamson and juniors Saul Reyes and Graden Greer, the backup quarterback.
Balance
How balanced will the Cardinals be between their running and passing games?
“I look at it as matchups,” Cory said. “We’ll take advantage of the matchups we see, whether that mans running or passing the ball. That will determined how balanced we are.”
Roster
Clear Lake’s varsity was 21 players strong entering the second week of practice in mid-August.
“My goal is to have 24 because if you lose three or four guys, you’re at 20 and still in good shape. If we lose three or four guys (this season), we’ll be around 16, and that’s cutting it close.”
Preseason
The Cardinals face, in order, Pierce at home in their season opener Sept. 2, Ferndale on the road Sept. 10 (their only scheduled Saturday game), and Rio Vista on the road Sept. 16. They return home Sept. 23 for their North Central League I opener against Kelseyville, the annual Bass Bowl game.
Clear Lake fell 15-8 to Pierce on the road last year in its second game, that after whipping Ferndale 33-8 in its season opener at home. The Cardinals did not play Rio Vista a year ago.
“Pierce lost some good players, but they’re still very good and athletic,” Cory said. “I think it will be a tough game, very physical.”
Ferndale should be improved from a year ago when the Wildcats finished just 2-7 compared to Pierce’s 9-4. Rio Vista finished 3-8 in 2021.
League
Clear Lake finished in a virtual tie with Middletown for second place in last year’s NCL I standings behind undefeated champion St. Helena, which lost the bulk of its starting talent to graduation.
“You have to beat the champion before you can become the champion,” Cory said of the Saints, who had one of the top junior varsity teams a year ago. “They’re well coached and the reserves on last year’s team got a lot of playing time.”
Cory also said Middletown can never be counted out because of its winning tradition and experienced coaching staff.
“Cloverdale also had a good group last season,” Cory said.
Where does that leave Clear Lake?
“I think we can be in the mix,” he said of the upcoming league title race.
Junior varsity
The Cardinals are in much better shape at the JV level this year with 22 players out for the team and there is abundant talent there, too, including more line and skill position help, which could be a huge factor down the road for the varsity club, especially during any postseason run.
“We have a pretty good line going at the JV level, too,” Cory said.
Varsity overview
If the Cardinals are vulnerable anywhere, it’s simply their tendency to morph from a super efficient team in practice most of the time to one that suddenly stumbles over its own feet for brief spells, according to Cory.
“This group … sometimes we look really good and sometimes we look like we got off Snoop Dogg’s tour bus,” Cory joked. “When we’re good, we’re really good, and we’re getting better all the time.”
